LAUREL
DANN:
The Last Interview With Duane Allman(first
published in 'Creem Magazine',
December 1971)
(reprinted in 'Creem Magazine',
December 1973, Volume 5, Issue 7)

The interview was conducted on
August 1, 1971.

Are you pleased with the Herbie Mann
sessions?

Hell, yeah. Herbie Mannís a really talented
guy. I felt real good when he asked me to
play with him. These sessions are goiní good
because everybodyís free. Any session is as
creative as you make it. Youíve got to feel
free to introduce your own ideas. Like, when
I worked on the Wilson Pickett sessions in
Muscle Shoals, I suggested he cut ďHey
Jude.Ē It ended up that he used my
arrangement and it worked out just fine.
Everybody was happy.

You worked for Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals
for quite a while. Were those sessions freer
than, say, the L.A. sessions you did?

Yeah, they probably were. But that was
really more because of the artists we worked
with. We did mostly R&B stuff and those cats
were real loose. They just wanted everybody
on the session to play their ass off; they
never told you what to play. I guess they
did tell you what not to play sometimes.

What do you think of the live At Fillmore
East album?
I dig the shit out of it. The whole band
does. It's as close as we've been able to
come to a real portrayal of what we are. It
really sounds like the Brothers.

Seems like Bill Graham never told you what
not to play. In fact, he gave the Allman
Brothers more freedom than any other band he
booked, didnít he?
Yeah. Bill loved us. But we loved him just
as much. I think Bill Graham is the best;
heís number one with me. I have more respect
for that guy than just about anyone. Folks
are always bitching about the way he treats
them. Iíll tell you somethiní. He treats a
band exactly the way a band treats him. You
show up on time; you do a professional sound
check; you donít hassle him for bread Ė man,
heíll treat you like a prince. Thatís the
way he treats us and thatís the way we treat
him. Anybody donít respect Bill Graham got
their head messed around.

When Graham closed the Fillmores,
everyone said that rock was dead. What do
you think?

Rock has never died and it ainít never gonna
die. This sayiní itís dead is nothiní new.
People been saying that since it started.
And Iíll tell ya: as long as thereís someone
who wants to go there, Iíll be there to play
it for them.

Donít you think you might someday get
tired of it?

Hell, no. Musicís what keeps me together.
Itís the thing that keeps us all goiní. Iíd
never stop playiní. God, I got no idea what
Iíd do if I wasnít playiní. I donít know
what would happen.

Youíre finally seeing some success here,
probably due to a sound thatís all your own.
Would you say there have been any specific
influences on either you or the band as a
whole?

I donít know how much other musicians have
influenced the sound of the band, but
probably not very much. I think the guys in
the band have influenced each other a lot. I
know I have been by other cats. Miles Davis,
Roland Kirk, Muddy Waters, B.B. King. Those
cats had a lot of influence on my music and
on a lot of the music I know. J. Geils is
our favorite band, but I canít say that
theyíve influenced us; theyíre into a
different thing from us.

Your music doesnít sound like those
people youíve named at all.

Yeah thanks. It shouldnít. Being influenced
shouldnít mean soundiní like or copying
anyone else. You gotta strive to play a pure
form of music; a kind of music thatís honest
to yourself. If you got that attitude and
feeliní about what you play, youíll be a lot
better off. Thatís the kind of attitude that
makes a great performing band. Ya know, a
great record is easy to make. I ainít
impressed by great records. But a great
performance ainít so easy. Thatís why we
like J. Geils so much. They know how to
perform their stuffóthey donít need studio
gimmicks.

How has the band managed to stay together
without the usual ego hassles that destroy
so much music?
These six guys have always worked for one
sound, one direction. But everyone plays
like he wants to play. He just keeps that
goal in mind. If you know what you can do
and youíre satisfied in your heart that
youíre doiní it, you ainít gonna have no
problems.

You speak as though the band has no real
leader. Is that true?

Not really. When we need a leader, Iím it.
Everybody understands that. Itís just that
we donít usually need a leader because we
got that goal, that attitude I told you
about. But there is one thing. You were
talkiní about bands breaking up. Drugs is
one thing that will do it and do it quick. I
donít allow no shootiní up in this band. One
time, I walked into the bathroom and saw set
of works in one of the roadieís shaving
kits. I went and grabbed him; I took those
works and smashed Ďem under my heel. And I
told him, ďIf I ever see that sh*t again,
man, youíre out of a job.Ē And that goes for
anyone in the band. I ainít puttiní up with
none of that sh*t. Iím not gonna sit back
and watch this whole thing go down the
tubes. I donít hold drugs against no one; I
just ainít having no one shootiní up in this
band.

When someone mentions the Allman
Brothers, people always think of Duane
first. Does that bother you?

Folks that ainít musicians canít be expected
to understand what does into putting one
sound out. They may think itís my guitar
thatís doiní it. It ainít, but it donít
bother me that folks think that Ďcause
thereís nothing I can do about it.

Do you think other guitar players are
jealous of you?

I know they are. Thereís all these guitar
banditos out there tryiní to outshoot me. I
know Iíve got my stuff together, so I see no
sense in trying to fight against them. Iím
with the other guitarists, not against them.
I know thereís always gonna be somebody
better anyway, so why fight that?

Do you think the other Allman Brothers
get jealous of the attention directed toward
you?

Hell, no. Thereís no petty sh*t in this
band. We are allies, working together.
Thereís a mutual love we share. We was
hungry together for a long time. We may be
makiní plenty of bread now, but it really
donít make that much difference to anybody.

That shows in the way the band dresses at
concerts.

Right. A cat comes to my band to pick, not
to show off his fancy clothes. We want to
share out music with the audience. But,
there ainít no stage show. This ainít no
ballet. We want people to listen with their
eyes closed, to just let the music come
inside them and forget their worldly cares.
We just want to make music that makes people
feel itís easier to go on than they did
before they heard us.

It sounds like youíre saying thereís no
reason to go and see the band.
Thereís not. Thereís nothing to see. Nobody
is going to get dressed up real fine to
satisfy someoneís vicarious need to be a
rock star. We just want to make music that
makes it easier for people to go on than it
was before they heard us.

So far, youíve done very little writing. Do
you plan to do more?
My writingís in the formative stages right
now. Iíve been writiní some music but no
words. I gotta feeliní itís all been said
already.

By whom?

Dylan, Jimmy Webb, Stills, those three
mostly.

What about Neil Young?
I donít like that catís stuff, especially
his guitar playing. He should stick to
rhythm work. Maybe itís the guitar playing
that makes me not like the songs. Seems like
he just uses the guitar as a vehicle for his
songs. Itís just a craft. For me itís an
art.

What advice would you give a guitarist
trying to make it today?
Iíd tell him to remember that you canít
never play just like anyone else so you
ought not to try. You gotta utilize whatís
inside you to create what you want to
create. You gotta sort yourself out and sort
the music you hear out. Then find something
to hang your notes on. You hang your notes
on your attitude and on yourself. If it
donít come out pure, it donít come out good.
I never took no lessons, but I got that
attitude.